Section 37Part 3 — Extension or Exclusion of Ordinary Time Limits
Fraud, concealment and mistake
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37. (1) Subject to subsection (3), where in the case of any action for which a period of limitation is prescribed by this Law, either —
the action is based upon the fraud of the defendant;
any fact relevant to the plaintiff’s right of action has been deliberately concealed from him by the defendant; or
the action is for relief from the consequences of a mistake, the period of limitation does not begin to run until the plaintiff has discovered, or could with reasonable diligence have discovered, the fraud, concealment or mistake. References in this subsection to the defendant include references to the defendant’s agent, and to any person through whom the defendant claims, and his agent.
For the purposes of subsection (1), deliberate commission of a breach of duty in circumstances in which it is unlikely to be discovered for some time amounts to deliberate concealment of the facts involved in that breach of duty.
Nothing in this section shall enable any action —
to recover, or recover the value of, any property; or
to enforce any charge against, or set aside any transaction affecting, any property, to be brought against the purchaser of that property or any person claiming through him in any case where the property has been purchased for valuable consideration by an innocent third party since the fraud, concealment or transaction in which the mistake was made took place
A purchaser is an innocent third party for the purposes of this section in the case of —
fraud or concealment of any fact relevant to the plaintiff’s right of action, if he was not a party to the fraud or concealment and at the time of the purchase did not know or have reason to believe that the fraud or concealment had taken place; and
mistake, if at the time of the purchase he did not know or have reason to believe that the mistake had been made.
Sections 14 and 15 do not apply to any action to which paragraph (b) of subsection (1) applies, and accordingly the period of limitation referred to in that subsection, in any case to which either of those sections would otherwise apply, is the period applicable under section 4. Section 38 Limitation Law Page 26 Revised as at 13th day of August, 1996 c